About the Music

In one historic moment, Bach set the stage for the harpsichord to claim its place as a concerto soloist. The instrument's meteoric evolution from a harmony-playing member of the Basso continuo team to an elevated solo instrument worthy of concertos occurred when Bach composed a frenzied cadenza for the harpsichord in his Fifth Brandenburg Concerto. That work alone employs the harpsichord in three roles, to add harmonic texture, to share the spotlight with flute and violin as a melodic chamber instrument, and ultimately to completely take over the proceedings with a dramatic stepping out, front and center.

This special concert exhibits the variety of ways that Bach composed for the harpsichord, whether as a solo instrument in his sweepingly imaginative Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue, as a chamber music colleague in the Sonata No. 5 in G Major for Obbligato Harpsichord and Violin, or as a shining star in the Concerto in A Minor for Flute, Violin, Harpsichord, and Strings. Crowning the program will be a rare performance of Bach's Concerto for Two Harpsichords!

American Bach harpsichordists Gabriel Benton & Corey Jamason will bring the intricacies of the instrument's captivating sonority to the ears of the audience. This is a concert of dazzling music and sound.